Nesting birds cause bridge repair delays at the Crook

Nesting Blue Tits and Jackdaws have caused delays to bridge restoration work at the Crook O’ Lune.

Work to the east cycleway bridge has been underway since April but was stopped last week when engineers reached the stage of demolishing the old bridge deck and found the birds nesting beneath it.

Lancashire County Council has taken advice from an ecologist and expects to be able to resume the repairs during the last week in June.

Kim Whalley, senior bridge engineer, said: “We found the birds as we prepared the old bridge deck for removal.

“We were expecting to be able to reopen the bridge in late October, and we’ll try to make the time up over the coming weeks, but this delay might push it back to early November.”

The listed structure, which links Caton with the River Lune Millennium Park, was originally closed for safety reasons in March 2011 after an inspection unearthed problems, particularly with the timber beams underneath.

The restoration will see the timber decking replaced, ironwork repainted, and the masonry re-pointed.

A diversion currently redirects people over the Caton Lune Bridge on Low Road, where a temporary walkway allows them to cross alongside the traffic.

Temporary traffic lights have also been installed at both sides of the road bridge, causing delays for traffic at peak times.